After a year away from the game, Tiffany Davis is eager to get back

Dave Johnson, djohnson@dailypress.com | 247-4649

For someone who grew up with a basketball in her hands — and that's awfully close to being more literal than figurative — Tiffany Davis has felt a little weird the last 12 months. While games were being played and shots were being made, she wasn't out there.

So where was she? At home, mostly, or working out. Waiting for her chance. Waiting for the right opportunity.

"This year has been a tough one without me being able to touch a basketball or even watch other people play," said Davis, who led Hampton High in scoring four straight seasons. "I felt like I missed out on that. But now I'm ready to get back out there."

That will come at Delaware State, where Davis landed after severing ties with Temple. Davis had signed with the Owls in November 2008, but a few months later she asked to be released from her scholarship. Temple coach Tonya Cardoza obliged, and that was that.

Davis thought about enrolling at the Apprentice School and joining her older sister, Tamara, on the Builders' team. But that never materialized, and she spent the year working on her game and looking for other opportunities.

Around February, Davis said, her mother got in contact with Delaware State coach Ed Davis (no relation). He was familiar with Tiffany but, to be honest, figured she was out of the Hornets' league. Given what she had done at Hampton — 1,877 points, one state championship — Davis had a big-time look to her.

So when Ed Davis found out Tiffany was available, he was interested.

"We knew about Tiffany and all the kids on those great teams at Hampton, but she was being recruited mostly by the upper-level schools," he said. "When she saw Delaware State as an option, both parties saw it would be a good fit."

Tiffany certainly sees it that way.

"I think this is where I'm supposed to be," she said. "And I'm planning on doing some great things when I get there."

Her path to Dover was anything but routine. She decided not to attend Temple because, she said, "My mom didn't like the area up there (and) I just didn't feel like that was where I was supposed to be." She praised Cardoza from releasing her with "no problems."

Then she appeared set to join the Apprentice School. Builders coach Lanica Williams told the Daily Press in August that she was expecting Davis to play barring a last-minute change of heart. But that didn't happen, either.

Again, she said the A-School was "not where I was supposed to be." Davis said she never enrolled.

Then came the open door at Delaware State, a program that has consistently been among the MEAC's best but has made only one NCAA tournament appearance (2007). The Hornets are coming off a 6-24 season, their worst finish in school history.

"My talent will speak for itself," she said. "Whether I'm at a big school or not, I'm going to get where I'm going. That's what I'm going to be doing"

No question, she has the talent. That was evident from the first game she played at Hampton as a freshman, when she led the Crabbers in scoring at 15.9 points a game. In her sophomore year, she bumped that to 18.0 ppg and led the Crabbers to the state title.

Phoebus' La'Keshia Frett, the VHSL's leading scorer with 3,290 points, is always the Michael Jordan in the "greatest Peninsula-area player ever" debate. But most agree that Davis is in the discussion for No. 2 along with Kecoughtan's Tajama Abraham, Jamestown's Jessica Canady and Menchville's Chalois Lias.

"There are other players who have scored in the 1,800-2,000 point range," Woodside coach Mike Tallon said near the end of Davis' senior year. "But what's impressive about her is that she's always had other great scorers around her."

The last time Davis was on the floor in an organized setting was on July 7, 2009, in the VHSCA All-Star game. She was the East's MVP that night with 18 points, six rebounds, four steals and two assists. As on most nights, she was the best player on the floor.

Spending a year away from the game was brutal. But it only made her more hungry.

"A lot of people were asking me what happened and was I even going to play basketball anymore," she said. "There were times I thought I wouldn't play anymore. But I got this opportunity, and I took it. This is what I'm supposed to be doing."